Anoa called potential killer

Anoa called potential killer

KENDARI, Southeast Sulawesi: An Australian animal conservation
expert said yesterday that the native anoa (small buffalo) could
go on a killing spree like the "killer tiger" in Lampung,
Sumatra.

The killer tiger, facing a dwindling habitat, reportedly ate
two people in Lampung and is now being kept at the Taman Safari
park in Bogor, West Java.

The Australian expert, Chris Majors, told Antara that locals
had not been attacked by an anoa but it was possible due to the
animal's shrinking habitat because of logging, plantations and
transmigration.

"I am not suggesting that these are bad activities, but these
interests have to be sensible about determining the locations of
their activities so they do not become a boomerang for the anoa,"
Majors said.

He said the animals were highly sensitive to changes in their
natural habitat and that they had to live away from logging,
plantations and transmigration camps.

The anoa is only found in the Wallacea area.

"The anoa population in Sulawesi today is 5,000 compared to
50,000 in the 1950s. The decline is due to dwindling habitat and
illegal hunting," he said.

Majors said their should be public awareness programs about
the need to maintain the habitat of the anoa and other animals
instead of putting them in captivity, which undermined
conservation efforts.

"This would create new problems for the anoa, which cannot be
tamed and would feel burdened if exposed to factors that it is
not accustomed to," he said.

He said the most effective way to save the anoa was for the
government to increase forest reserves that made up its habitat.
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